Nerve agents, the deadliest of chemical weapons

Two employees of GEKA, a government-owned company specialising in the disposal of chemical weapons, wear protective suits as they dispose of dummy cartridges. Source: AAP

Following the British police announcing a former Russian double agent was allegedly poisoned by a nerve agent, here is a look at the chemical warfare weapon and how it has been used in a series of deadly attacks throughout history.

UpdatedUpdated 8 March 2018

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Nerve agents such as that used to try and kill a former Russian double-agent in Britain, were first developed as neurotoxins by German scientists in the 1930s, but never used as chemical weapons in WWII.

Q: What is a nerve agent?

Nerve agents are the most toxic known chemical warfare agents. They are a type of organophosphate chemical, like certain pesticides, and attack an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase that is crucial for controlling nerve signals.

"A nerve agent affects the nervous system by interrupting communications between the brain, the main organs, and muscles," Jean-Pascal Zanders, a biological weapons expert at France's Foundation for Strategic Research, told AFP.